{"id":599,"date":"2009-08-23T07:47:31","date_gmt":"2009-08-23T11:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=599"},"modified":"2009-08-23T07:47:31","modified_gmt":"2009-08-23T11:47:31","slug":"not-so-miserable-mizeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/not-so-miserable-mizeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Not so Miserable Mizeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was talking about my favorite Polish dishes the other day, and while all I could think of was \u201cyummy\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m so hungry right now\u201d, the comment my friend made was \u201cthat name sounds absolutely miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, she was referring to \u201c<strong>mizeria<\/strong>\u201d, which is definitely, hands down my most favorite Polish thing to eat. Yes, I know it\u2019s just a side dish, but if I had my way, I\u2019d eat it as a main course with a bit of potatoes and a slice of protein as side dishes.<\/p>\n<p>Actually, until it was pointed out to me, I\u2019ve never really made the connection between \u201c<strong>mizeria<\/strong>\u201d the food and \u201c<strong>mizerny<\/strong>\u201d the adjective.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>mizerny<\/strong> (<em>fem.:<\/em> <strong>mizerna<\/strong>, <em>neuter:<\/em> <strong>mizerne<\/strong>, <em>pl. masculine personal:<\/em> <strong>mizerni<\/strong>, <em>plural all others:<\/em> <strong>mizerne<\/strong>) \u2013 poor, ill-looking, etc\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria.jpg\" aria-label=\"Mizeria\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-600\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"253\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria.jpg 1668w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-350x296.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-768x650.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-1024x866.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Mizeria<\/strong> can also be a synonym for \u201c<strong>bieda<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c<strong>ub\u00f3stwo<\/strong>\u201d (poverty). But if you hear an average Pole talk about <strong>mizeria<\/strong>, I guarantee you they\u2019re talking about their favorite cucumber salad.<\/p>\n<p>Because that\u2019s what common <strong>mizeria<\/strong> is: cucumber slices in sour cream. With a bit of sugar, salt, pepper and dill.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, the name of the dish actually derives from the poverty of peasants back in the olden days. (hmmm\u2026 if they were so poor, then where did they get sugar and sour cream from?) But trust me, the dish itself is anything but miserable.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think there is a recipe for it. You just slice some cucumbers, mix some sour cream (I like my sour cream a bit runny) with a dash of sugar, salt, and pepper, pour over the cucumber slices, add some fresh green dill, chill it for a couple of hours and it\u2019s ready. You can add a bit of vinegar to if you like your <strong>mizeria<\/strong> a little more sour.<\/p>\n<p>The essential ingredient is sugar. This dish is all about being both sweet and sour and crunchy. But sadly, this is the part that many Polish-Americans forget about. I was once served <strong>mizeria<\/strong> (in NJ) with just plain, unflavored sour cream. Bleh\u2026 It was awful and totally miserable. Everybody knew it was awful, but still, they ate it, because to them it was a traditional Polish dish, and we all know how much Poles love their traditions.<\/p>\n<p>Other Polish foods that I can\u2019t live without are: <strong>og\u00f3rki kiszone<\/strong> (pickles), <strong>kapu\u015bniak<\/strong> (cabbage soup), and <strong>galaretka<\/strong> (yes, the savory kind).<br \/>\nHow about you? What are some of your Polish favorites?<\/p>\n<p>PS&gt; And does anyone know how to make proper <strong>og\u00f3rki kiszone<\/strong> from scratch?<\/p>\n<p><em>image: wikipedia (because my <strong>mizeria<\/strong> never lasts long enough to take a photo).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"296\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-350x296.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-350x296.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-768x650.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria-1024x866.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2009\/08\/mizeria.jpg 1668w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>I was talking about my favorite Polish dishes the other day, and while all I could think of was \u201cyummy\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m so hungry right now\u201d, the comment my friend made was \u201cthat name sounds absolutely miserable.\u201d Of course, she was referring to \u201cmizeria\u201d, which is definitely, hands down my most favorite Polish thing to&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/not-so-miserable-mizeria\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[306832,7365,7528,7529,2840],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-cooking","tag-cucumber-salad","tag-polish-dishes","tag-polish-food","tag-side-dishes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}